Creating a reverse chronological resume

What is a reverse chronological resume?

A reverse chronological resume is the most common and preferred resume layout today. List your employment history with most recent sorted towards the top. Under each job position describe your responsibilities and accomplishments. Also list your education history with most recent sorted towards the top. Provide any notable achievements underneath each school/institution.

As the name indicates, this resume format is characterized by the way in which your ‘Work History’ section is listed: starting with your most recently held job, list your work history down the page working your way back to your oldest job (i.e. reverse-chronologically).

Anyone with more than 5 or 6 years work experience is considered a Professional Level candidate, they should have their ‘Education” section follow after their ‘Work History’, since their professional experience is most relevant. If you are an Entry Level candidate, you may want to list your education first.

When writing your ‘Education’ section you need to list your education in reverse chronological order, detailing your most recently attained qualification at the top and working down. For each qualification listed you need to include the following information:

School/Institution attended & Date of course completion

Qualification title awarded you (e.g. Bachelor of Arts (B.A))

Any additional achievements, e.g. Dean’s List

Should I use a reverse chronological resume?

Generally, yes. A majority of employers like to see resumes in reverse chronological order since this shows them your most relevant work experience first.. There are certain situations in which a functional resume is more appropriate such as those with huge work history gaps but if your work history is fairly complete and continuous and do not have huge gaps in your employment history or can explain any large gaps you do have, you should format your resume in reverse chronological order.